


Paired Stars

by thetomasweetiesisters



Series: Stella Bella [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: A Greek Tragedy, Awkward teen love story™️, F/M, In this house we love Ben Solo, It’s all about family, Ravenclaw Ben, THE SLOWEST OF BURNING, That Harry Potter AU, The Skywalker/Solos are amazing, but they’re perfect, gryffindor rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-02-26 13:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18718288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thetomasweetiesisters/pseuds/thetomasweetiesisters
Summary: Professor Luke Skywalker’s abrupt disappearance draws young Rey and Ben Solo together again. The pair must then bear the burden of the Skywalker legacy in the Wizarding World and learn to forgive the unforgivable. In the midst of such chaos, a new force is awakening at Hogwarts, and it is the world’s only hope against the shadow of death.





	1. Prologue: Dark was the Night

**Author's Note:**

> Please listen to this while reading! https://youtu.be/BNj2BXW852g HAPPY REVENGE OF THE FIFTH!

_Run._

  
Through the Forbidden Forest, his shadow flew-over thick roots, off the overgrown path and into the walls of dark oaks pressing closer and closer against him. Thorn bushes tore at his face, and knotgrass strangled his feet. He ripped himself free from it all and gripped his Smith and Wesson tighter. With each stride, the dice chained around his neck thumped and jingled against his chest. Runrunrun. He had to run. Faster and faster.

  
_Breathe._

  
The muggy summer air choked his lungs. He couldn’t tell if he was tasting sweat or blood on his lips with each gasp. He didn’t care and spat out both. Just breathe. Once. Twice. Breathe and heave the burning air from those lungs.

  
_Run._

  
No brooms could fly faster than him in these woods. No damned wizards could find their way at night to the spots the Muggle knew. No magic could overpower his heart or his gun as he followed the pinprick of light growing brighter in the dark brush. Closer now. Faster he flew.

  
_Breathe._

  
Then, cutting the air, the man heard a scream. He froze and searched the light ahead. He knew that scream too well-from when the kid fell off his broom, and when he saw those big-ass magic bugs for the first time, and from the nightmares, all of those damn nightmares these past few months, when the smuggler could only hold his sobbing son until dawn.

  
_Ben._

  
Han Solo’s limbs loosened and heart pulsed back to life. He sprinted towards the light, a wide streak of red now slashing through the dark. Within its eerie glow, two tall figures emerged, their ox blood colored robes standing out darkly against the red. And between them, a small boy struggled violently in their grasps.

Han swung his gun out and roared, “LET HIM GO, YOU BASTARDS!”

Ben turned towards Han, large hands clasping to cover his face, to pull him forward. The boy lurched back, “DADDY, PLEAS-!!”

“BEN!” Han screamed hoarsely, arms stretched out. He couldn’t shoot. Not yet. “BEN, I’M HERE, I’M COMIN-”

The red light burst, devouring Han’s words along with the trees ahead and the starless sky above. The Muggle crumpled onto his side under its weight, dropping his old revolver as he rolled backwards. His ribs cracked against roots until he hit a fallen tree and laid still.

The screaming stopped.

The night grew quiet again.

But even with his eyes closed, Han could still see the red light, feel the heat of it tingling atop his skin.

“Ben,” he murmured, opening his eyes. “I’m coming, kid. I’m coming.”

 

 


	2. For the Fatherless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The epic reunion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For your listening enjoyment: For the Widows in Paradise for the Fatherless in Ypsilanti by Sufjan Stevens
> 
> https://youtu.be/59BRCOiQVKI

Han Solo’s grave was always clean-so unlike the man himself. Where his fingernails had been eternally caked with dirt and the black of engine oil, the etched letters of his name sparkled in the summer sun. And where Han Solo was full of life and that devilish joy, there was just a rock-a cold, gray rock-planted in the ground with his name on it. And this sorry sight was somehow supposed to commemorate a man like him.

What a joke.

Yet, there she was, staring at a dumb rock and still hoping.

Rey shook her head, a fleeting laugh escaping in a breath, “Idiot.”  
  
Knees pressed against the damp summer grass, she stared at the date carved into the stone: August 31st 2007. Five years ago today. The deep breath Rey tried to take sounded forced and heavy like the Hogwarts Express heaving in one constant route. The teen walked her wand and fingertips atop the stupid stone then placed her acacia stick down. That’s how Han referred to all wands: fancy sticks. “What would you say if you saw me still coming here, huh?” she whispered to the air.

Rey flattened her hand and moved it down towards the words on the otherwise smooth stone. Han had been dead for five years, and Rey would never get over the feeling of his name under her fingertips. Her shoulders jerked involuntarily, hot tears burning at the corners of her eyes. “Damn, I shouldn’t think about that should I, Han?” Only silence answered her. Silence had never been her kindest friend, but it was always an honest one.

When Han died, Rey didn’t speak for two weeks. She spent the time curled up under her bed, cheek pressed against the soft, shag carpet. She would ignore Chewie’s concerned grunts from the doorway, pretending to be asleep. She still felt a twinge of guilt remembering this. Her Wookie guardian had been so kind, even leaving plates of chocolate frogs and cups of blue milk under the bed. She had pushed them all away.

But for all his kindness, Chewie had lost his best friend, too.

Rey pressed her palms against the soil and leaned back wearily. At least the sky looked happy today-pastel pinks and blues and yellows following the setting sun. It always made her smile when it turned out to be nice on this day, more like a celebration of all that was good in the past rather than a grim reminder. The summer breeze cooed strands of brown hair out of her bun, making it messier than it had already been. Rey snorted to herself and stood up on bare feet to head back to the hut. It had already been a few hours; Chewie would probably be home by now. She glanced towards their thatched home then at the fading cloud of smoke drifting from just outside the Forbidden Forest. The Groundskeeper had spent most of the day clearing the old paths and burning dead brush in preparation for the upcoming school year-his second one teaching Care for Magical Creatures. Considering the many infirmary visits in his classes last year, Rey knew how nervous he would be tonight and in need of her most soothing tea.

Before she took a single step, a brown and white bird hobbled up the hill and over to her leg, purring urgently as it rubbed its head against her knee. Rey scratched its fluffed-up feathers and furrowed her brows, “Hey Lamby, what’s going on?” Lamby glanced back towards the hut and rapidly flapped her wings. Rey followed her gaze. The smoke from the forest had crept into Hogwarts, its long, finger-like tendrils slipping around the ancient stonework and tall spires. In the light of the setting sun, both the castle and smoke glowed with a reddish tint.

All should’ve been calm on the eve of the new school year.

But after more than a decade growing up on these grounds, Rey’s very bones knew the slightest change. The air felt heavier, the quiet scene somehow unsettled. Then, she saw the figure hurrying out of Hogwarts towards her and Chewie’s hut. From the green robes and classic silvery side buns, Rey knew even at a distance who it was: Rey’s Potions Professor and foster Aunt, Leia Organa-Solo.

“Strange,” Rey muttered. Over the last five years, Rey had never seen the older woman leave the castle on the anniversary of her husband’s death. And the closer she got, the clearer Rey could see Leia’s bent brows and pursed lips.  
  
In an instant, the trance was broken when Lamby squawked and jumped into Rey’s arms. Even the Gryffindor herself jumped at the sight of a little white cat with orange speckles racing up the hill after the bird.

She knew who the cat belonged to immediately.

“GRACIE!!”, a deep voice barked from a little further down the hill. Rey’s gut knotted up like Devil’s Snare, and she steadied her tears. A tall teen in a black NASA t-shirt strode into view. Rey looked in the opposite direction and stood her ground, too late to run.

“Gracie, don’t run away like tha-”, his sentence ended with one glance at Rey. The boy froze solid much like the grave that stood between the two on that lonely hill. With a deep breath, Rey’s courage arose, and she dared to look straight at him. A pair of coffee-colored eyes stared back at her-wide and bloodshot-before quickly flicking down. He looked older than 16, almost sickly, with those dark circles under his eyes and rivulets of wrinkles already creasing his brow. His father’s own grave looked less worn down by time. Wavy, raven-black hair fell slightly above his broad shoulders, which suddenly jerked to a shrug when he dug his hands into his jean pockets.

“Ben,” Rey quickly muttered. It was nothing and the bravest thing she could utter at the same time. She had not spoken to the other teen in almost three years. With a slight nod, he finally stared back at her, his face an unreadable slate and so much like his mother’s. They stood in silence momentarily, save for Gracie mewing excitedly at Rey’s feet and Lamby squawking in turn. The evening sky darkened and a sickle moon glowed brighter above Ben’s head.

At last, Rey spoke. “Call off your damn cat, unless you want it to eat me and Lamby.”

Wordlessly, the boy flicked his wand from his pocket and a red light shaped like a mouse zipped down the hill. Gracie lunged for it before Ben scooped her up in his arms.

“You – you still come here?” He half whispered - his voice no longer the pre-pubescent screech she used to tease him for, but hauntingly low.

Rey choked back an explosion of words-nearly. “Why wouldn’t I?!”, she snarled through gritted teeth. Rey tasted the bitter bite in her voice, and a small part of her almost felt sorry for her old friend. ‘He’s not the same kid from back then, though,’ a stronger side reasoned, ‘and neither am I.’

“Th-that’s not what I meant! I just didn’t realize that you-” He fumbled, and his big ears turned bright pink. Rey almost smiled at the familiar expression, and that small part of her perked up,‘But some things haven’t changed.’ She quickly quelled memories of such happiness and reminded herself of the present day, the grave between them and the words no magic could undo. Ben’s serious mask quickly settled back into place. “Fine. Do what you want,” he quietly replied, the wind whipping his hair across his face.

“It’s fine I’m leaving anyway.” With Lamby in one arm, Rey picked up her wand from atop the grave and quickly turned her back on the boy who had once been her best friend.

“U-uncle Luke’s gone!” Ben hesitantly called out as she walked down the hill. Rey stopped, staring further ahead at the hut and the two figures of Leia and Chewie inside, brightly outlined against the encroaching darkness. “He disappeared this morning. No one can find him-not even Headmaster Yoda.“

Her vision shrank, and Rey resisted the urge to turn back. ‘Uncle Luke.’ A fire welled up in her chest and spread to her limbs. “Lumos” she said and began to run – and those were the last words Ben Solo spoke to her on that hill.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For our sweet fatherless reylo babies. Yes, we inserted ourselves as their magical animals...because we love them...and will protect them...even in fiction - R & G


	3. Before the Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Don’t bother Luke” -Michael Scott

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LISTEN WITH: Shake it Off by Florence and the Machine

The hillside rolled lightly beneath her bare feet as she ran faster than a golden snitch towards their hut. Lamby trilled overhead, having jumped out of the teen’s arms the moment she began to run. No more tears pricked Rey’s eyes, no more doubts for now about the boy by the grave. _‘Please don’t leave me too, Uncle Luke,’_ she begged.

The girl raced through the skinny path in her tea garden and stumbled up the hut’s front steps. The door swung open from the inside. Golden light enveloped Rey. She steadied herself against the worn wooden doorframe, panting beneath her foster aunt’s startled stare.

Firelight flickered across the older woman’s face, her grave features shifting in its shadows. Under arched brows, her honey-colored eyes glowed, peering so intensely at Rey that the teen felt like a mischievous first year again. A moment more and the woman’s countenance softened into recognition and concern.

“You know,” Aunt Leia said just above a whisper. “Was it Ben?”

Dazed, Rey nodded.

The woman rolled her eyes and turned towards the hill. “Skywalker men. So dramatic. At least the boy stopped brooding long enough to talk to you. I’ll have to thank Luke for that. Right after I’ve Polyjuiced him into an Ewok for running off like this.”

“B-but it can’t be true,” Rey murmured, panic pouring through the cracks in her voice. She staggered a step back into the chill of the night. “It’s not possible. H-he wouldn’t just leave. He’s-”

“Know not Professor Skywalker’s intentions do we, Young Rey,” an ancient voice croaked from inside. Warmth instantly filled Rey’s heart and with it a budding sense of peace. Leia moved aside for Rey to see the small, elven-like figure outlined with a bluish glow next to Chewie. He glided through the round kitchen table towards Rey, no longer needing the cane he still carried. “Nor can we assume any danger he is in. Trust in him we must until more evidence we can find.”

Seated on a floral armchair by the fireplace, Chewie groaned in dismal agreement.

Despite his translucent form, Rey felt as though the most revered wizard of the age was seeing through her with his hooded gray eyes. “But, Headmaster Yoda, I don’t even understand what happened. How could Uncle Luke just disappear?”

With a twitch of a pointed ear, Yoda looked passed Rey. Aunt Leia sighed deeply and stepped alongside her. “We don’t know much either, Rey-just that he was here last night, preparing for the school year. Then this morning, he missed our faculty meeting, and his room was spotlessly packed away. That pigsty never looked better, really.”

The older witch chuckled, but Rey noticed the slight strain beneath her smile, the tint of hesitation in her eyes as she leaned closer. “I know how difficult it is to trust when so much is uncertain, but you can trust me, Rey. I would know if my foolish brother was in trouble. And right now the only danger he’s in is a year’s worth of hard labor cleaning out my dungeons once he comes back.”

Rey nodded, unable to feign a smile as easily as her aunt. “So, what can I do to help?”  
  
“Patience, Young Rey,” the Headmaster replied. “Action is not the only form of help or courage there is. Sitting with uncertainty, you must learn.”

Aunt Leia nodded. “Yes, focus on your first day of school. You know Luke would tell you the same. That old teacher’s pet.” She paused, twisting her simple, emerald wedding band that glinted in the firelight. “And I’ll tell you as soon as he returns.”

Memories swarmed Rey’s mind-blasts of green and red, a woman’s screams. “But Aunt Leia! You- you have to let me do something, please- anything! I can’t just wait here!”

The girl shrunk back from the others. The room grew darker and the screams louder. _‘No, I’m not waiting anymore. Never again.’_

                                                                                  *

  
Rey remembered when she first learned that she wasn’t actually part of the family she loved so dearly-just a kid pulled in from the streets. Uncle Luke had found her, a scruffy six year old, curled up on Chewie’s giant chair with equally giant tears soaking her shirtsleeves. The legendary wizard walked in and knelt beside her, patting each of the beloved three buns she wore in her hair. His presence was like a friendly hearth, and all Rey’s sorrows seemed to soften when she was in his light. She looked up from her crossed arms and found his kind, blue eyes gazing back at her. “Blood doesn’t get to decide who’s family, Rey.”  
                                                                           

                                                                                  *

  
Wookie arms swooped Rey up into the hairiest of hugs. She felt her caretaker’s loving growl rumble through his chest. A soft hand reached passed and lightly brushed the tears off of Rey’s cheeks. The cold and happy sting from her Aunt’s ring was a welcome comfort against the girl’s warm skin. “Let us help you now, Rey. You’re not alone anymore. We’ll always be here, even when you can’t see us.”

Rey bit her lip. _‘Uncle Luke was right.’_ And finally for the first time that day, she let herself sob.

                                                                           

                                                                                  *

  
Ben watched his mother embrace the teen witch goodbye on the stoop of Chewie’s hut, then slip back up the dark path towards the castle. Even after the light from the older woman’s wand faded, the girl kept her watch, walking a few paces away from the hut.

The boy’s heart quickened, eyeing the Forbidden Forest crouched darkly above Rey. Suddenly, Ben heard a familiar trumpet-like chirp and watched the shadow of a bird fly down into Rey’s arms from a nearby tree. The girl pet her companion’s head before carrying the bird inside.

Ben sighed and returned to his vigil.

Draped in starlight, the boy stared at his father’s name glowing in white on the gravestone-the eternal light a final charm left by his mother. Below it read the likewise illuminated words one could only see at night: “Let no darkness rest upon him. Let him sleep in light.”

The boy cringed.

_‘Is this what you wanted?’_

Ben bowed his head. “Accio mask.” An instant later, he felt the object in his grasp and stood up.

_‘You’ve gone too far. You never think of the consequences.’_

Ben slipped on the mask, the inside covered in one phrase, scribbled over and over again.

_‘Just like your father.’_

He recited the words softly and felt his bones begin to burn.

“You were right, Uncle Luke” the boy whispered. Jaws clenched, he glanced at the grave then towards the stars. He flicked his wand. “Caellum Ambullo.”

And the hill was empty once again, save for the stone and the speckled cat staring up at the sky.

 


	4. Genesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where Rey and Ben didn’t hug, despite excellent advice. They both need it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LISTEN WITH HEDWIG’S THEME AND REY’S THEME! Thank you for reading!!!

“Did you hear about Professor Skywalker?! Gone – a day before classes start - can you believe it?!” The rumors swirled up the marble steps and echoed against the Entrance Hall’s stone walls.

The robed teen at the top of the staircase bit the inside of his cheek. _‘So much noise.’_

“Hey, give him credit! He’s probably downing firewhiskeys at the Hog’s Head right now. Maybe I’ll vanish with him next year, too!”

Pain shot up the youth’s arm, and the fresh bruises on his wand hand tingled. He gripped his book tighter.

“But who’ll teach Defense Against the Dark-“

Ben Solo swiftly walked passed the younger Ravenclaws, grateful for the abrupt silence that followed in his wake. The teen was used to being greeted this way and with eyes that looked down at their shoes instead of at him.

He didn’t care.

He subtly glanced back at the group of boys. Second years. They still gossiped like Gryffindors, but without the cockiness to call him out.

He respected the Gryffindors more.

Gossip was no stranger to Ben Solo. As the only child of Princess Leia Organa-Skywalker and the notorious Muggle Smuggler Han Solo, he was practically raised on rumors. The Daily Prophet had once even wrote that he was the unnatural offspring of Chewbacca and Leia because of his long hair as a kid. Han had tried to convince a young Ben that this was real, too, before receiving a swat behind the ears from his mother. _‘What?! He’s a baby furball! You were the one who did this to him, not me, Princess!’_

In the last five years, though, such silliness and laughter had disappeared, and the whispers now were all the same: _‘Murderer.’_

Ignoring the murmurs behind his back, the young wizard reached the ground floor and glided in between packs of excited students towards the Great Hall.

_‘Breathe. Just breathe.’_

“Ben!”

The teen turned quickly and concealed the book and his bruised hand against his side.

His mother walked up from the entrance to the dungeons, wearing her ornate green and silver Slytherin robes as well as a weary smile. Behind her, Phasma and Hux, the seventh year Slytherin prefects, led up a larger group of their peers. Both waited patiently at attention by his mother’s side when she stopped-the gangly, red-headed wizard easily overshadowed by his tall blonde partner. Each also wore a band around their arms that changed from the image of a hexagon with a sun in its center to the words ‘Vis Mea.’

“Bring them straight to their seats, please,” the Potions Professor said, “And I expect no jinxes or funny business with the Gryffindors tonight at least. We don’t want to start the year with negative points again. I’ll be in shortly with the first years.”

The pale boy nodded then glanced Ben over as if he were a dissected frog on a Potions Master’s cutting board. When the pair’s eyes met, Hux smiled thinly. “See you inside, Solo,” he said, his voice a reedy twang.

As the group passed by, Leia gently pulled Ben aside into a shadowy corner between the torches along the walls. The moon glimmered through the hall’s giant window, and the golden statue of the school’s architect stood above them. His mother smiled up at him. “Are you alright, Mr. Angsty Ravenclaw?”

He huffed, rolling his eyes. “Do you even know what the word angsty means, mother, or did you just see it in one of your wizarding parent magazines?”

“Derived from the German word for fear. Meaning the expression of fear, apprehension or insecurity.” Her eyes glinted and grin grew wider. She arched a brow, “Which seems to perfectly sum you up after your apparent encounter with Rey.”

Even in the shadows, Ben’s blush burned brightly as he looked over his mother’s shoulder. Heading towards the Great Hall’s giant doors, he glimpsed amongst a rowdy bunch of Gryffindors the back of a girl’s head with three buns in a vertical row. His eye twitched at the familiar sight. She moved inside ahead of the others, alone. He slipped back further into the corner and mumbled, “It was important she know about Uncle Luke. That’s all. And I figured you wouldn’t do it.”

A shock of pain briefly flashed across his mother’s features. “You’re right,” she whispered, slowly nodding her head. “Thank you for being the brave one again.” She paused half-sighing and reached up to cup his cheek. He jumped at her touch. She searched his face earnestly. “So keep being brave. I know this time of year can be stressful for you, too. Even more so with what’s happening now.” She moved her hand down to his shoulder. The closer she came, the more his wound ached and the book became a heavier burden hidden along his side. “Please come if you need me. I’m here for you, kid.”

He took another step back, and Leia’s hand lingered a moment in the empty space between them. “Alright,” he replied and looked out the window towards the stars.

The woman nodded knowingly and stepped back as well.  
  
“Okay. Enjoy the feast. I’ll see you in Potions this week. Don’t forget your summer assignment.” While turning to leave, the witch looked back with a smirk, “And give Rey a hug for me, won’t you?”

He grimaced watching her exit the hall through a side door. Alone again, Ben listened to the roars from the Great Hall. He waited and worried his bottom lip. The numerous portraits lining the walls curiously flicked their eyes at him, the bolder ones creeping into their neighbor’s frame for a closer look.

Ben ignored them with a deep breath and clipped across the flagstone floor to the Great Hall.

Inside, hundreds of robed students roamed around four long tables, laughing and comparing their summers with enthusiastic gestures. Gray ghosts dashed amongst them and flamboyantly popped out of screaming second years. At the front of the enormous room, a line of well-dressed professors overlooked the scene from their High Table and talked cordially amongst themselves. And far above them all, thousands of candles illuminated the dark clouds rumbling across the enchanted ceiling.

No one noticed Ben’s entrance.

Or so he thought before being knocked flat on his back.

                                                                              *

  
Rey took her usual place at the corner of the Gryffindor table closest to the main doors. Cheek slumped in a raised palm, she stared at the empty chair set aside for the Dark Arts Professor on the dais. For the first time in five years, she didn’t know who would be sitting there tonight.

Uncle Luke’s voice whispered over her racing thoughts. _‘Breathe. Just breathe.’_

“REEEEEEEY!”

A small Vietnamese witch knocked Rey out of her daze with a tackle- hug. Stronger than a needy python, the girl squeezed Rey with each word. “YOU. CAN NEVER. LEAVE ME. AGAIN!”

“Rose!” Rey choked and patted her friend’s arm. “H-Hi. L-love you, too. A-and you guys left me, remember?”

Another pair of arms wrapped around Rey and Rose, squishing them even closer together.

“Shhhhhh, sweet Rey, shhh,” a boy whispered and lightly tapped her back. “Your boring decision to not come with us on our epic Uagadou adventure has been forgiven.”

Rey shook her head. “Honestly, Finn, I’m going to hex your shorts into snak-

“Now hold your cranky pants just a minute, best friend! Because we still got you a souvenir!”

Rey was released from their death hold of love and swiveled around in the bench. Next to Rose stood her other best friend and fellow Gryffindor, Finn. With one arm still hanging around Rose’s shoulder, the wizard held out a small, ebony lion that prowled around his palm and roared when it saw Rey. Finn grinned, his dark skin starkly contrasting against his bright white smile. “Meet Mufasa- your new emergency best friend if we’re ever apart again!”

“Or Muffy for short,” Rose smiled more shyly while glancing over to Finn. “Our Study Abroad Transfiguration Professor made him from this cool ancient tree on the mountain!”

“Mr. Muffy, please! The dude’s the king of the pride lands!”

Rey laughed and held out her hand to Finn’s. Mr. Muffy walked across her pointer finger and sat at the center of her palm, roaring again. She rubbed his mane, and the little lion froze back into its sculpted form. “Thanks guys. I’ll make sure to-“

“Welcome back, prince!” The lone shout and accompanying thud silenced the crowded hall. An object hit the back of Rey’s shoe. She picked it up instinctively-a worn, gray book-and hid it on her lap.

Her breath hitched. The teen could have recognized Poe’s voice a whole Quidditch field apart.

Teeth clenched, Rey twisted in her seat to examine the scene. Gryffindor’s stocky Quidditch captain was leaning against the wall, twirling his wand with ease.

And sprawled face up on the floor was Ben Solo.

Rose placed a hand on Rey’s shaking shoulders.  
  
_‘What a fool he is.’_ But she realized she didn’t know who was the bigger fool: the bully or the boy who never fought back.

“Not very graceful for a prince are you, Solo?” Poe said and pushed off the wall. “I guess you’re only a half-blooded one, though.”

A small crowd of students began pooling around the two. Ben didn’t say a word. He struggled to his knees, apparently ignoring the older teen. Rey noticed him discretely scanning the floor.

Poe leaned down to Ben’s eye level. “And if you had anything to do with Professor Skywalker’s disappearance, I don’t care how high and mighty you are or who your family is. You’re done.”

Ben’s chest heaved and shoulders drew back. He stood up along with Poe, a good head taller than his accuser. “Do what you have to,” he said so softly that Rey wondered if she alone had heard him. “And I’ll do the same.”

Curiously, Poe eyed Ben over, then, tossing his chin up, he turned and walked through the crowd down Rey’s aisle. With a smirk, he nodded towards her. “See you at practice.”

Rey responded to her captain with a cold stare.

“Damn,” Finn muttered. “I should’ve been a Hufflepuff. Gryffindors have no chill.”

Rose nodded solemnly, glaring at the upperclassmen packed around the handsome Quidditch captain. Rose’s sister, Paige, stood on his right hand side. She laughed along with the rest wherever he went – and no matter what he did.

And Ben Solo was alone, now desperately searching the ground.

Gently, Rey touched the book’s soft cover then patted Rose’s hand.

“I-I’ll be right back, guys,” she whispered.

                                                                            * *

“Looking for this?” she asked. Ben’s face whipped from the ground to Rey then the book. Eyes wide, he took an instinctive step forward before stopping himself. She held out the book, which he quickly grabbed.

“The Tales of Beedle the Bard” she said as he hurriedly flipped through the pages. “Interesting choice for a wizard over the age of 10. And I don’t remember you ever being a fan of fairy tales.”

Ben meekly looked up from the book, his brown eyes flecked with red from the candlelight. “You didn’t know everything about me back then,” he muttered.

“I knew you liked aliens and space shuttles way more than princesses and dolty Warlocks,” she huffed, crossing her arms. “And I knew you weren’t an idiot.”

The young wizard shot back a crooked frown. The enchanted sky cracked and boomed to the astonished shouts of students. A light wind swept over the pair of teens and droplets of rain freckled their faces.

Neither moved.

Rey shook her head, lost in memories of the boy she used to defend now being hexed and ridiculed, tripped down stairs and tossed in the Great Lake, over and over again without her by his side. Her childhood admiration of his strength to resist their jeers and jinxes was replaced by tidal waves of frustration. “Why don’t you stand up to him? You’re not a coward. I know that about you, too.”

In two short strides, Ben towered over her. Hands on her hips, the girl held her stance with a fierce stare. Dark black strands of hair fell over his face as he leaned in, his eyes now alit by an indignant rage. “And why do you suddenly care if I’m a coward or not? When did it become so damn important to you what I am?”

Rey flinched and averted her eyes. _‘You’re right,’_ she thought. Why should she care about the stupidly stubborn Ben Solo? Confusion seeped through her mask of courage.

She looked up at Ben again, noticing more so the nuances of pain in his tense jaw and raised brows. Cool raindrops fell from his hair onto her cheek and rolled down her skin. She glanced down to his side and clenched fist. Bruises bloomed across his right hand in deep hues of violets and blues. Shock shook her. “What happened to your hand?”

Ben jolted back.

The light drizzle stopped.

The main doors cracked open behind them, and the Potions Professor marched in at the head of a line of first years. Leia eyed the teens. “Move aside, you two,” she barked and gleefully added, “I didn’t expect you to move so fast, Ben. A scoundrel indeed.” The wizard scowled. Rey gaped at her foster aunt, and the two youths immediately moved to either side of the incoming students. Leia smiled and called back to the awestruck first years, “Hurry to the front now. No shuffling of feet, or all the pumpkin pasties will be gone before you’re sorted.”

“Students, welcome you are to this new year,” the voice of the Headmaster boomed and pulled Ben and Rey further apart. Rey shifted her gaze to the front of the room where the small ghost floated behind a podium made of thick twisted roots. A stool stood before him with a weathered pointed hat flopped over on top of it.

“Sorted you soon will be,” he said to the first years nervously clustering before him. “But first, notice many changes you have perhaps, young ones, and many questions I sense you have.” The old Headmaster turned his head to each side, his nose and ears flicking in sync. “Most important of which being will there be Rootleaf stew this year for our feast? Of course, wonder this you do, as have I. Excellent source of fiber and good ruffage, it is.”

When Rey turned to Ben, he had already reached his seat in the back corner of the Ravenclaw table.

“But remember, questions do not always need answers. Still cooking the stew might be.” Yoda paused and looked directly at Rey, still standing alone along the back wall. Her head began buzzing and he glowed even brighter while all else faded around him. Despite his soft voice, his words resounded through her. “And learn we must to move forward in the dark, trusting in the light within ourselves and the ones we love.”

As he said this, a shadow brushed by Rey.

 _‘Who are you, Rey?’_ a voice whispered.

She shivered and searched for the source.

The aisle was empty.

But Rey noticed how the ghosts had stopped chattering to turn towards the front of the hall-stiff like the corpses they should be. The other students kept joking unaware, save for Ben.

_‘Do you even know?’_

Fist covering his mouth, Ben kept furtively glancing towards the Headmaster. Even from afar, Rey could see him trembling.

The girl couldn’t move to help him now. Entranced and horrified by the lilting voice that sounded so like her own, she waited for the next words.

_‘I do.’_

Suddenly, a hooded figure in a golden robe appeared beside Yoda. The room gasped, the first years scurrying back frantically from the front and several older students hopping off their benches. The Potions Professor stepped ahead of the first years and tilted her head warily.

_‘I’ve always known.’_

“Ah. So, come you have, at last.” Yoda hovered higher above the podium and bowed to the figure.

“Deepest apologies, Headmaster. I was detained,” the man replied in a gravely and ancient voice.

_‘And you do too, don’t you?’_

Rey began to move as if through quicksand-one slow foot forward then the next. And with each step, she wanted to stop, turn back, find the voice that had no face and shake out of it all the answers.

She needed to know.

_‘But you’ve always known.’_

Legs shaking, the witch reached her friends and crumpled onto the bench next to them. She felt a hand on her shoulder again and heard the distant words, “Introduce you I now can to our substitute Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Many battles he has fought and much wisdom he has to share. Taking over for Professor Skywalker he will be for this time. Welcome, young students, Professor Snoke.”

The figure turned towards the student body and pulled down his golden hood. A deep scar cut across his bald skull and down his forehead in the shape of a lightening bolt. Thinner threads of scars and wrinkles held the rest of his face together, and most prominently, a chunk of flesh was missing from his left cheek as if someone had clawed out the man’s face. His pale blue eyes perused the room slowly before finding Rey.

He smiled at her.

_‘You’re nothing.’_

Rey’s vision blurred to black as a lion roared.

The last voice she heard was Rose.

“Rey, what happened to your Uncle?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!! Thanks so much for reading - we really hope that you’ll enjoy this as much as we do <3 Much more to come!! This is gonna be epic and we’re so excited, we’ve been putting this story together for months and just love it. We’re basically just writing this for ourselves at this point but figured we’d let other people in on it! - R & G


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